Jeff Overton tied for fourth place at the rain-shortened Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge.

Sept. 28, 2005

With the Indiana men's golf team preparing for the second annual Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge, IUHOOSIERS.com is taking a look back at the inagural event, which was held on Oct. 25-26, 2004 in Bandon, Ore.

This year's event will take place on Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 3-4, in Chicago. Northwestern will host the event at The Glen Club. The course is set up as a par 72 with a yardage of 7,149.

BANDON, Ore. - In one of the top tournaments in collegiate golf featuring five ranked teams and the top teams from the Big Ten and Pac-10 Conferences, the Indiana men's golf team closed out the Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge in 10th place. IU finished the rain-shortened, 36-hole tournament with 611 (304-307). The final round was canceled due to inclement weather.

The tournament was hosted by Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, the third ranked golf course on Golf Magazine's Top 100 Golf Courses to Play list behind Pinehurst and Pebble Beach.

Minnesota (304-292) brought home the tournament championship to the Big Ten by virtue of the fifth-score tiebreaker after ending the 36 holes tied with USC (298-298) at 596.

Seven Big Ten teams and seven Pac-10 teams entered the field, and the Hoosiers finished ahead of Big Ten rivals Michigan and Illinois along with defending national champion California and Oregon. IU closed the event just 10 shots out of fourth place, which was captured by No. 17 Arizona State (296-305).

Once again Indiana faced windy and wet conditions, but the weather could not stop Jeff Overton, who picked up his fourth straight top-five finish after tying for fourth place. The senior from Evansville, Ind., finished with an even-par 72, giving him a two-day, 1-over-par 143 total.

"Jeff didn't have his 'A' game today, but he knows how to handle difficult situations," Indiana head coach Mike Mayer said. "That is the difference between him and most other golfers. He knows when to attack and when to lay back. If we could have gotten one more round in, I really think Jeff could have won this tournament. It's hard to win every week, but he proves week in and week out he is one of the top players in the country."

Golfweek's fifth-ranked golfer completed the Challenge three shots behind Arizona State's Alejandro Canizares (71-71). Canizares won medalist honors, defeating Alex Prugh of Washington (72-71) and Taylor Wood of USC (71-73). Overton now has 19 career top five's and 24 career top 10's.

As was the case following round one, senior Heath Peters and freshman Santiago Quirarte found themselves tied with matching 154s. The duo fired 3-over-par 75s in round one and closed with 79s in round two, tying for 33rd place.

"Heath had a chance to shoot lower but had a couple of miscues. That's going to happen on a course like this. Besides a pair of late double bogeys, Heath had a good tournament," Mayer said.

"Santiago got off to a horrible start in round two but held it together and managed to shoot a respectable number," Mayer said. "His first round was a great round for a freshman and really helped this team."

Rounding out the Hoosier lineup, junior Scott Seibert rebounded from a difficult opening round with a 77 on the final 18. The Chesterfield, Mo., native finished tied for 63rd at 161 (84-77).

The Hoosiers completed the fall season with three top-five finishes in five events, including their second straight title at the Xavier Invitational. IU heads into the offseason before kicking off its spring campaign at the Hyatt Plantation Club Intercollegiate in Puerto Rico.

"Overall, it was a great experience for our team to play a great golf course against a quality field," Mayer said. "We were thrilled to be a part of this tournament. We could have played better, but we did the best we could under the conditions. We will work hard over the next few months to get ready for our first tournament of the spring in Puerto Rico."